----- Original Message ----- From: "Louis Proyect" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 6:02 AM Subject: [PEN-L:35853] To Ian Murray
> Ian, you cite this as an example of my attacking people rather than ideas? > > >To the contrary, a "pacifist" (in the sense of being opposed to the > >right of the imperialists to make war) position is the only one that > >principled Marxists, radicals and progressives can put forward. =================== Only that the notion of pacifism includes, is consistent with, an obligation to engage in communication that refrains from attempts at character assassination. > > Perhaps you should write letters to Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, John > Pilger, Tariq Ali and Greg Palast as well, who have been making the same > point all over the place. ===================== I have no intention of 'using up' the time those people have. They're busy enough trying to craft messages that will reach large audiences without engaging in pre-emptive contempt for them. > > In any case, I have two standards. One that I use for people on PEN-L, > which is fairly restrained. The other is for celebrities not on the list > (other than those that Doug Henwood favors) like Michael Berube, Russell > Jacoby, Bill Domhoff and other pro-war, pro-big business, pro-two party > system scumbags. I have no plans to refrain from heavy doses of sarcasm > and even--gasp!--ad hominem attacks when addressing such people. If this > offends you, I invite you to put me into a killfile as some other people > have crowed that they will do, but somehow never follow up on. ====================== There are no celebrities here. Your sarcasm looks a lot like adolescent name calling and facile attempts at character assassination to me and a lot of other people, especially those on the receiving end of your communication. What is it, objectively? Ian
